Automobile-wheel.



H.. F. BELDEN.

AUTOMOBILE WHEEL.

APPUCATIONHLED 020.21.1915. RENEWED APR. 29. me.

1,284,217. Patented NOV. 12, 1918.

2 SHEETSSHEET I.

H. F. BELDEN AUTOMOBILE WHEEL.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 21. 1915. RENEWED APR. 29. mm.

Patented Nov. 12, 1918. v 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 TED STATES FATE FFICE.

AUTOMOBILE-WHEEL.

Specification of letters Patent.

Application filed; December 2 1, 1915, Serial No. 68,047. "Renewed April29,1918. Seria1 No.'231,541.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known tha 1,: HERBERT F. BELDEN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Detroit, in the county of Wayne and State of Michigan, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvementsin Automobile-Wheels, ofwhich the following is aspecification.

My invention relatesto new and useful improvements inwheels, for motorvehicles and more particularly in the felly and rim construction ofsuchwheels, the primary object of my. invention beingrthe provision ofafelly and rim, construction for wheels.

employing solid rubber; treads, wherein provision is made forhousingpneumatic tubes or tires between thefelly andrim.

A still further; object ofmy; invention consistsin constr-ucting theouter face of the felly insuch a manner as to effectively re-., ceiveand be supportedby the pneumatic tubes inclosed betweenit and the rim.

Another: object which I have in mind is theprovision of a simple formofsectional rim which maybe readily-taken apart or assembled and which,when in place, will form with the felly a fluid tight chamber for thepneumatic tubes.

And a still further object of myinvention is the provision of aconnecting means between the .felly and rim which will in no wayinterfere with the necessary relative movement of the tube to afford therequisite cushioning action, but which will prevent creeping of the rimabout the felly and whichew'ill, therefore, permit the employmentpofwheels; of the character described as drive WhBBlS:

With these, and-other objects in view, my.

- invention-willgbe more fully described, illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, and then specifically pointed out in the claimswhich are attached to and form a part of this, application.

Inthe drawings:

Figural is a vertical sectional view through the rim and *felly, showingthe hub and spokes in elevation and illustrating the 1 connectionbetween the rim and felly;

Fig. 2 .is a; sectional view taken .on the line 22- ofFig, 1, showingthe rim and felly in cross section;

Fig, 3 is a detail'perspective view of certain of the links employed inconnecting the rim and felly; I

Fig. 4 is a. viewcorresponding :to Fig. 2, illustrating a somewhatmodified form of construction Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective iew ofthe 7 sections ,making; up myv improved V Patented-Nov. .12, 1918.; a

, Corresponding and like parts are referred j to in the followingdescription "andfindt; cated in all the views'of the drawings by thesame reference characters.

My improved wheel construction, asbest.

shown in F igll' of"the-drawings,includes rigidly secured to thehubandfextending' a hub 10 of any suitable type, spokes 111' radiallytherefrom, a felly l2 secured'to the 1 outer ends of the ,sp'okesinanywell known or suitable manner, and a rim indicated ,as' a whole by thenumeral 13 surrounding the fellyand spaced therefrom, The fellyis 7preferably formed of some light metaLsuch i V V wood or any othermaterial found suitable as aluminum, although it may be made of and hasin itsouter faceand centrally thereof a peripheral groove or channel 14definingat eitherside abutment shoulders 15, the peripheral faces ofWhich are grooved, as shown at 16, in order-to snugly;

seat and be engaged by the pneumatictubes or tires 17. Thesetubes ortires maybe. 1

smaller than the ordinary pneumatic tubes; r

as two are employed .in each wheel andgas theyare not exposed to directengagementwith the road bed maybe of much lighter.

weight and material. Preferably, they are formed of canvas .or otherfabric impreg- Vnated and coated with rubber or a rubber composition.Each tube is, of course, pro-.

vided with the customary valve stem .18;

which extends through the felly and incloses a check vvalveof the usualtype protected,. i

when not in use, by a dust caprrl9.,

The rim 13 is of such internal diameter, as

to engage theouter peripheral faces of the pneumatic tubes 17 ,ras-shownin Fig. 2, be

ingngrooved peripherally to receive them, and. consists of two sections20 and 21-. Each of .these sections, at itsouter edge, is pro vided withan inwardly directed -circumfer-.

ential flange 22, the inner faces of Which en gage against the outeredges or faces of the felly 12jand each run section, at its outer,

edge,is provided with-an outwardly directed;

peripheral retaining shoulder 23. The inneredge ofone of-theserimsections, in the present instance the section 20, is provided 1 v with acircumferential" groove or channel 24: to recelve a circumferential r1b.or shoulder section 21. The two rim sections, when ap- '25 formed uponthe innertedge vofthe other:

plied to the wheel, are secured to each othem clear that this air,exerting and, consequently, against disengagement from the felly by aplurality of tie bolts 26 passed transversely through the body portionsof the rim sections and provided with clamping nuts 27. As clearly shownin Fig. 2 of the drawings, the outer faces of the rim sections arerecessed to receive the heads of the bolts and the nuts in order thatthey need not project beyond the sides of the rim and be exposed toinjury. The inner faces of the felly engaging flanges 22 of the rimsections, adjacent their inner edges, are formed with circumferentialgrooves 28 to seat packing rings 29 of rubber or other equivalentmaterial in order to provide a fluid tight chamber 30 between the fellyand rim. As shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, a valve stem 31 leads fromthis chamber and is provided with an air valve of the usual type andwith a dust cap 32. By this means, air may be forced into the chamber 30to a pressure substantially equal to that in the pneumatic'tubes 17 andit will, therefore, be pressure against the outer faces of the tubes,will relieve them of a portion of the strain from the air imprisoned inthem.

The above described structure constitues' my improved wheel as used fornon-driving purposes. WVhen the wheel is to be employed as a drive wheelupon a motor vehicle it of course becomes necessary to provide some typeof connection between the felly and rim in order that the two may notturn independently of each other. In Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive of thedrawings I have illustrated a preferred form of such connection. Thisconnection, broadly speaking, comprehends a chain made up of alternateplates and links, the alternate plates having sliding connection withthe felly and rim. shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, a plurality ofplates 33 are secured in suitable spaced relation about the felly bybolts 34: threaded into the felly, these plates lying in the com tralchannel 1a of the felly and beingprovided with longitudinal slots 35 toreceive the bolts in order that the plates may have limited movementalong the felly. The ends of the plates are slotted and rebent toprovide hinge ears 36 for connection with the links. Other plates 33 aresecured in spaced relation along the inner face of the rim section 20which, as shown, is of greater width than the rim section 21 in orderthat the plates may be secured between the tubes, as shown in Fig. 2.The plates 33 of the rim are staggered with respect to the plates 33 ofthe felly in order that the ends of each plate of the felly may belinked to adjacent ends of plates on the rim.

The links 37 are preferably circular in cross section and provided withflattened Copies of this patent may perforated terminals 38 to seatbetween the hinge ears 36 of the plates to which they are connected bypivot or pintle pins 39.

It is believed that the foregoing explanation, when taken in connectionwith the drawings, will not only disclose the construction, but also theoperation of my wheel and that any further description is, therefore,unnecessary. It will of course be understood that I do not wish to limitmyself to the specific details illustrated and described as many changesmay be made without departing from the spirit of my invention. Forinstance, in Figs. 4 and 5 of the drawings, I have illustrated asomewhat modified form of construction in which the felly 15 isconstructed of wood with its side faces incased in and reinforced bysteel bands 15 and in which the riml3 is constructed in three instead oftwo sections. This rim includes the rim proper 13 which engages againstthe pneumatic tubes and the felly engaging flanges 13 which are securedto the edges of the rim proper by bolts 26 and nuts 27 and which areformed with the thread retaining shoulders 23. In this form of myinvention, the body portion 13 3f the rim is also of wood, although theflanges 13 are of metal. In addition to the above distinctions, and rimwith anchoring rings 10 and 41 to receive the bolts 3 L which secure theplates 33, these rings being fastened to the rim and felly in anysuitable manner. l/Vith the above exceptions, the construction disclosedin Figs. & and 5 is identical with that previously described.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. In a wheel construction, a felly, a rim, cushioning means between therim and felly, and connecting means between the felly ind rim preventingturning of one with respect to the other while permitting movement ofone toward the other, said means in :luding a chain construction,certain links having sliding connection with the rim and certain otherswith the felly.

2. In a wheel construction, a felly, a rim surrounding and spaced fromthe outer peripheral face of the felly, cushioning means between the rimand felly, and connecting means between the felly and rim, saidconnecting means including plates having limited sliding engagement withthe felly, plates having limited sliding engagement with the rim, andlinks pivotally connecting the ends of the first plates with theadjacent ends of the second plates.

In testimony whereof, I afiiX my signature. i

HERBERTVF. BELDEN, a 5.

be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner ofEaten,

Washington, D. G. I

I provide the felly

